Church News and Exposing the misdeeds of Leaders in the Church
Two Victory Christian Center youth ministers asked a judge Friday to dismiss the charges of failure to report child abuse against them based on the letter of state law, which they say fails to include the rape of a child as a type of child abuse.
The youth ministers, John Daugherty and Charica Daugherty, were charged in September, along with three other Victory Christian Center employees after they reportedly waited two weeks to report child abuse after a 13-year-old girl reported having been raped at the church. The Daugherty's were charged along with Paul Willemstein, 32, Anna George, 24, and Harold Frank Sullivan, 73.
John Daugherty is a son of Senior Pastor Sharon Daugherty, and Charica Daugherty is his wife. Sharon Daugherty has not been charged with any crimes.
A former church employee, Chris Denman, 20, has been jailed since Sept. 5 and is charged with six counts of sex crimes against children, including the rape of the 13-year-old girl. The charges also involve two other girls, ages 15 and 12.Also, another former church employee, Israel Shalom Castillo, 23, is charged with making a lewd or indecent proposal to a child and using a computer to facilitate a sex crime. Those charges involve a fourth alleged victim at the church - a 15-year-old girl.
Friday's motion to dismiss the charges against the Daughertys, filed in Tulsa County District Court, argues that because neither Castillo nor Denman was charged with child abuse, the Daughertys cannot face the charge of "failure to report child abuse."
Employee records show that Denman was released from his position as a Victory Christian intern Aug. 10 and was to return to work as a janitor Aug. 16, according to the motion.
The motion argues that because Denman and Castillo have not been charged with child abuse and cannot be charged with child abuse, the law regarding failure to report child abuse cannot be applied to the Daughertys.Source
Another ex-church employee, 23-year-old Israel Castillo, was arrested last week and is charged with making a lewd proposal to a 15-year-old girl and using a computer to commit a sex crime.Tulsa Police Det. Cpl. Greg Smith told The Associated Press in an interview Tuesday that a third suspect could face charges related to alleged sexual abuse of a fifth victim. Two things are complicating that case, Smith said, because the victim's parents are uncooperative and the suspect is no longer in Tulsa."We're at a stalemate," Smith said. "The third suspect we haven't talked about because all we have to go on now is secondhand information."
"It's a bad situation for the church to be on the front page of the paper every day, but there isn't a church within a 500-mile radius that doesn't know about this now."Every youth pastor knows now `If I suspect abuse, I need to report it,' because if you don't report this, you could end up being charged," Peterson said.
"That's how you heal," she said. "You don't sweep anything under the rug."
The two Victory Christian adult employees met the two girls at summer camp and stayed in touch with them through Facebook and cell phones, exchanging sexually explicit messages and engaging in sexual relationships, however neither girl is old enough to legally consent, according to a report from NEWS6 in Tulsa.One of the girls told police one of the men who forced her was named Chris Denman. She stated he hit her until she resisted.
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| Pastor Sharon Daugherty, Victory Christian Center |
"I do think it did have some harm, because we had forensic evidence that was gone by the time we were notified," said Corporal Greg Smith. "There were persons we needed to talk to, who were no longer there and it took time to track them down. There have been some problems with the delay."Smith said he wants everyone to know they have a legal obligation to report suspected child abuse in a timely manner. Specially trained professionals should have handled the interviewing of victims and suspects.
"We can prove our case, but it would've been easier and much more solid a case, had we been involved from the beginning when we could gather all the evidence available then—not what's left over two to three weeks later," Smith said.
One prosecutor told me it's hard to believe an organization the size of Victory Christian wouldn't be aware of the reporting requirements, especially after all the publicity at Penn State recently.
Failing to report suspected child abuse, in Oklahoma law, is a misdemeanor.
